These deserve more attention from Ghibli fans.
Studio Ghibli is perhaps the most famous studio in the anime industry. It’s even known to non-otaku, yet most people are only aware of their most popular anime like Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle.
If you liked The Boy and the Heron and want to see some of their other weird and obscure works, here are some good recommendations.
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (Kaguya-hime no Monogatari) is one of the most acclaimed Ghibli movies — at least, among critics and more experienced fans. Newer otaku tend to avoid it because of its highly unusual art style.
The art, however, is its main selling point. Besides, the movie is a unique take on a classical Japanese fairy tale, something we don’t see often in more popular anime.
Only Yesterday
Only Yesterday (Omoide Poroporo) is very much a nostalgia piece. It is amazing at showing the eras it took place in (both in its main timeline and in the flashbacks), and is full of visuals and music that will take you back there, even if you never experienced that yourself.
The movie deals with chasing your dreams, and its unique way of storytelling is the reason it has a small but dedicated fanbase.
Pom Poko
Hayao Miyazaki isn’t the only Ghibli director who has works dedicated to the problem of ecology and conservation of nature. One of Isao Takahata’s (who also worked on both of the aforementioned movies) lesser known works is Pom Poko (Heisei Tanuki Gassen Ponpoko).
The movie follows a group of tanuki (mythical raccoon dogs with magical abilities) trying to repel humans who are about to destroy their natural habitat.
On Your Mark
One of Hayao Miyazaki’s more obscure works, On Your Mark is a tribute to the pop duo Chage & Aska and their song of the same name. It originated as a side project during the production of Princess Mononoke (Mononoke Hime), and is the studio’s first attempt at combining CGI and hand-drawn animation.
The short still gets screened occasionally with Ghibli’s movies in Japan, though it is also available in other ways. Originally released as a music video for a tour Chage & Aska were performing in 1995, it was later included on many of the studio’s physical media releases.
Iblard Jikan
Iblard Jikan has to be Ghibli’s weirdest work. It really stretches the definition of anime, having only a minimal amount of animation to count as one. It also features no dialog at all — it’s a compilation of beautiful art, depicting a life of a surreal fantasy world of Iblard.
It’s essentially a half-an-hour-long music video with gorgeous drawings. And yet, it’s oddly captivating, with many considering it the most underrated Ghibli work out there.